Mule-tide champs

BLOOMFIELD -- You could almost tell by their first defensive play just how things were gonna go for Bernie in the championship game of the 52nd Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Mules senior Daniel Becking got the crowd to its feet with a big block that turned into a 3-pointer made on the offensive end by junior Jake Owens.

Bernie, which once again played short two starters, didn't trail from there in a 69-45 thrashing of Portageville to win its third Bloomfield title and the first since 1993.

Bernie coach Brad Botsch couldn't help but reflect on the last time the Mules made the final back in 1996 but came up empty-handed.

"I'm so excited and ecstatic for this kids," Botsch said. "It's such a great feeling. A lot of old emotions come out because the last time we were here I was a senior in high school and we got beat by East Carter.

"It's such a great feeling to be in this situation and enjoy such a great game with such a great team."

Bernie (9-1) lit up the net in the first quarter against the Bulldogs with junior Jake Owens draining four 3-pointers to set the tone and get the crowd into the action. The team overall hit on five 3-pointers with Jordan McGowan adding one as well.

"Out of the gate, we shot the ball extremely well," Botsch said. "Our kids have been working and you know we haven't shot the ball well yet this year. We've haven't shot as well as we liked to and maybe tonight was the turning point.

"We've played defense all year, we just haven't shot the ball well all year."

After trailing the Mules 22-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs came back with a solid second quarter. Six Portageville players scored in the second led by Dometric Treadwell with four points.

But unlike Monday night against Twin Rivers when Portageville went on a 19-0 run to start the second half, the Bulldogs went flat Tuesday night after halftime. Portageville scored just four points to Bernie's 15.

"We were playing a different team," Portageville coach Jim Bidewell said. "I think (Bernie) knew going into halftime what we did last night and they talked about it and they were not to be denied. With two of their starters out, to do what they did is phenomenal. Their coach deserves a lot of credit because I'm not sure we could've done that."

Bernie senior Jake Welch reeled off six straight points to start the second half including a couple hard drives to the hoop. Welch totaled eight points in the quarter and 20 on the game. He added 10 assists for the double-double.

Welch, who was selected as an all-tournament player afterwards, was tired from four games in five days but it was well worth the effort it took.

"It's unbelievable," Welch said. "Portageville -- they are an unbelievable team, they play great defense they have a great tradition -- but it feels great to be out here with the win."

Bernie closed out the game outscoring the Bulldogs 18-14 in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Botsch knew coming in that Portageville would have a lot of momentum after a thrilling overtime win over Twin Rivers in the semifinals Monday night.

"You just gotta go up there and take your shots," Botsch said. "It just didn't seem like we were gonna be denied, every time Portageville would make a small run we'd get a stop on defense."

Although he was disappointed in how his own team performed, Bidewell came away thoroughly impressed with Bernie.

"They were the better team tonight by far," Bidewell said. "You gotta give them credit. They got after every loose rebound, they hit their shots, they hustled and they deserved first place. We're not at their caliber yet and we need a lot practice time to play the kind of ball they're playing right now."

Welch was taken back a little bit by the sweet stroke his teammate Owens had early on in the game.

"I've seen something like this, but he surprised me," Welch added. "I didn't know he could make that many (4) in a row. I just tried to find him when he was open."

Seeing Owens get hot beyond-the-arc didn't surprise Botsch one bit.

"Jake had a tournament last year where he hit in the 20s every game," Botsch said. "Up until (the Bloomfield Tournament) he hasn't played as well as he could. Jake's always gonna be a solid player but he hasn't played as well as he would like to. In this tournament, he's just filled it up."

Owens, who also made the all-tournament team, averaged 16.3 points per game and totaled seven 3-pointers in the tournament.

The win gives the Mules their second tournament title of the season as they won earlier this month at the Campbell Invitational. The only loss for Bernie this year came against Bell City back on Dec. 18.

Botsch used just six players as the Mules stayed out of foul trouble. Becking led the team with just two fouls.

Dometric Treadwell was the only Bulldog in double figures with 11 points. The loss for Portageville was their seventh straight in Bloomfield Tournament title game appearances.

Bernie dominated the game against Portageville from the start and generally ran away with all four games played. The Mules won by an average of 36 points per contest that includes a 70-point win over No. 16-seed East Carter in the first round.

Even without the 70-point margin against the Redbirds, the Mules' smallest margin of victory was 23 and they averaged a 25.7-point margin of victory from the quarterfinals to the finals.

The interesting thing about the Mules dominance though is how they did it -- without two starters -- for a little less than half the tournament.

Bernie first lost Jake Smith to a broken foot in the first quarter of the quarterfinals against Bloomfield then lost Zach Curry to an ankle injury in the first quarter of the semifinals against Dexter. Smith is out 4-for-6 weeks according to Botsch while Curry dressed but did not play Tuesday.

"These kids just showed such resiliency," Botsch said. "They were so determined to get the job done and I'm so, so proud of them."